BIOGRAPHICAL POETRY

Troupe, Quincy. Little Stevie Wonder.  Ill. Lisa Cohen. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2005.  ISBN: 978-0-618-34060-2 

Poetic Elements:  This biography book is written in free verse and tells the story of Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway, better known as Stevie Wonder.  The author takes a familiar song written by Wonder and manipulates the lyrics in his poem to reflect a telling of Wonder’s life in a repetitive format.  For readers that are familiar with the original song, they can easily sing parts of the poem naturally while they read.  To those unfamiliar, they will catch on as this part of the poem repeats itself throughout.  Similes are used in the poem.  “Little Stevland grows up like a vibrating root listening to blues music on the radio,” is an example. The interpretive imagery used here is exaggerated through Cohen’s illustrations.   The above simile features Wonder as an infant in a stroller with a boom box nestled next to him.  Metaphors are also used, “He is a curious boy, who imitates all the black singers he hears over the airwaves.”  “And through his ears he sees more clearly than most people do with their eyes,” is an example of how hyperboles are used, admonishing keener senses when one is missing.  The cadence of the poem is exonerated with how the text is written in curvy lines and arches, and has singled out words and phrases that are bolded letters and/or changed text colors. Although Wonder was blind, his life was consumed in a rainbow of colors which helps reiterate the many happy times he has had in his life.  An association of imagery abounds as the reader connects the words with the illustrations.  Because sounds abound in Wonder’s life, the use of onomatopoeia is almost an understatement in this book, “He starts banging on bongo drums when he is seven.”  Truly feeling the world through Wonder’s experiences is expressed by Troupe in this imaginative biographical poem with fresh ideas and feelings.

Appeal:  This poem being written in picture book format is a win-win style.  The book is full of color and interesting illustrations that accompany the text, which is easy to read.  One might “wonder” just glancing through the book looking at the illustrations why the boy keeps wearing sunglasses on his face.  The insight gained from reading the words in the poem will help readers to “see” from a different perspective.  The poem doesn’t weigh on Wonder’s disability, but praises his achievements to overcome life’s struggles in making lemonade out of sour lemons. Further, his scope of compassion towards all of humanity is pleasingly encountered when synthesizing the lyrics he uses in writing his songs.  To get the most from this biographical poem, readers will want to read the author’s follow-up about Wonder and scan through the chronology about his life up to this point.

Overall Quality:  The poem is definitely appropriate for elementary students to read, but would probably earn more appreciation from second grade and up.  Most people are more compassionate towards another when they learn of a person’s disabilities.  In a sense they are probably more thankful to be a person without having physical disabilities.  However, this poem and book did a really nice job explaining the extenuating circumstances that caused Wonder’s blindness and how he capitalized upon his strengths of hearing and touch to create music with poignant lyrics that have made an impact all over the world.  I personally really enjoyed the ease in reading this book.  Because I have listened to Wonder’s music on the radio and already had that knowledge, I gained a better perspective for the person that he is. The book shared information that was new to me, yet interesting. Readers who are unaware of Wonder before reading this book will also find interest in this book, too.  The illustrations are perfect in their style and usage amount. I could very easily read another book written by Quincy Troupe.  Dwelling on the good is what this poem did.
The Poets:  A single poet, Quincy Troupe, wrote this free verse poem.  It is a 32-page biographical poem picture book that tells the amazing life highlights of Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway, better known as Stevie Wonder.  Troupe was the first official poet laureate of the state of California.  He has published various poetry books.  His book Little Stevie Wonder has received high reviews from Kirkus Reviews, Horn Book, and Booklist.  It has also earned a starred review from School Library Journal.

Layout:  Little Stevie Wonder is a 32 page biography picture book that shares how Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway took delight in music and overcame his disability of blindness, delighting the world with the music and songs he wrote and sang. This book includes a CD that features two songs by Stevie: Fingertips (Part 2) and Uptight (Everythings Alright).  It helps the reader to get a taste of what Wonder’s music sounds like. The actual 32 page poem features illustrations on every page done in acrylic on paper.  The poem is written in various sized words and colors that bring emphasis to the story and the text is placed differently on each page.  The author, Troupe, shares his notes about Stevland Judkins Morris Hardaway after the poem and also gives the main chronological highlights of his subject.  A “Select Discography” follows, sharing the years that various Motown labels for Wonder’s music were recorded.  Information on the author and illustrator are shared on the inside of the back cover.

Spotlight Poem:  By way of introducing this poem, I think that I would find a video-taped recording on uTube of Stevie Wonder performing “Isn’t She Lovely.”  I would follow by sharing the book Little Stevie Wonder.  After discussing the book and emphasizing the concise highlights of Wonder’s life and achievements, I would explain to students that they are going to select a biography from our library to read.  They are responsible for pulling out the top 3 to 5 most important things that they learned in the book about that person.

Taken from Little Stevie Wonder by Quincy Troup

Isn’t he lovely,
this blind black boy
born to love everyone?

Oh yeah, isn’t he lovely,
 this small blind boy, thinking of his fingertips?
  Snapping those fingers before unseeing eyes,
   he starts humming.
    Then he turns that humming into a song.
     Shake it, shake, shake a tail feather, baby.
      He shakes his head in time with the music,
       shakes it from side to side—
        makes up a beat and keeps the beat going
         inside his mind, where he sees everything in          pictures.